  | Firefly season Author: Smith, Cynthia Leitich | |
| Price: $23.28 | ||
Summary:
Piper feels grateful for her family, especially time spent with her cousins in Cherokee Nation and Muscogee Nation. Piper's family lives a road trip away in Kansas City. So when a neighbor named Sumi moves in next door, Piper is excited to share her stories and seasons with a new friend. Piper's family moves to another city. Their bond overcomes distance, and with time, Piper dreams up a plan to reunite with the people she loves most of all.
| Illustrator: | Gardiner, Kate |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (05/01/25)
School Library Journal (05/30/25)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (00/06/25)
Full Text Reviews:
Other - 02/24/2025 "As Sun rises/ on misty mornings" in Cherokee Nation and "moon rises/ on steamy evenings" across the tribal border in Muscogee Nation, seven-year-old Piper, an only child, enjoys visiting extended family-fishing, dancing with fireflies, learning from older cousins, eating grape dumplings, and listening to elders’ stories. Piper also misses her cousins terribly when she and Mama return to their Kansas City home. But "a new day brings/ a new neighbor": four-year-old Sumi, with whom she becomes fast friends. When Piper’s parents announce a family move to Topeka, Piper and Sumi keep in touch, and a letter from Sumi prompts Piper’s thanking the Creator "for the blessings of family." As time passes, the two deepen their bond, experiencing each one’s favorite traditions on shared trips to Oklahoma and Mumbai. Declarative language from Leitich Smith (Holler Loudly), a citizen of the Muscogee Nation, traces a familial narrative filled with longing, love, and the blessing of found sisterhood. Colorblock-like gouache and colored pencil illustrations from Gardiner (Sometimes We Fall), a member of the Chaubunagungamaug band of Nipmuck Indians, lean into scenes of community and play in this work about two friends creating their own familial bonds. Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. An author’s note concludes. Ages 4-8. (May) - Copyright 2025
School Library Journal - 05/30/2025 Gr 1–2—Summertime is one of the best times for Piper, a seven-year-old citizen of the Muscogee Nation and a descendant of Cherokee Nation. It means she can frolic among the fireflies, have story times with the elders, and indulge in grape dumplings with her cousins. When it's time go back home to Kansas City, she finds she has a new neighbor. Sumi is four and has moved from Mumbai, India, with her father. The two girls grow a sisterly bond that is tested by distance when one has to move away. Gardiner's art style wraps readers in comfort and coziness. The glow from the fireflies brings back the wonder and childlike awe and appreciation of summers with family. The illustrations provide a simple complement to the story of Piper and Sumi, which all families can appreciate, found or related. VERDICT Sisterhood knows no limits, even across different cultural backgrounds, in a story that blends Indigenous and South Asian facets in a wonderfully accessible and childlike way.—Kaitlin Srader - Copyright 2025 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
